S3 Detection as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Aid in Emergency Department Patients With Acute Dyspnea
- 30 June 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Annals of Emergency Medicine
- Vol. 53 (6), 748-757
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.12.029
Abstract
Dyspneic emergency department (ED) patients present a diagnostic dilemma. Recent technologic advances have made it possible to capture information about pathologic heart sounds at ECG recording. This study evaluates the effect of an S3 captured by acoustic cardiography on emergency physician diagnostic accuracy and confidence in their diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure, as well as the patient's prognosis. Dyspneic ED patients older than 40 years who were not dialysis dependent were prospectively enrolled in this multinational study. Treating emergency physicians, initially blinded to all laboratory and acoustic cardiography results, estimated acute decompensated heart failure probability from 0% to 100% on a visual analog scale. The emergency physician repeated the visual analog scale after acoustic cardiography results were provided. Physician diagnostic accuracy for and confidence in acute decompensated heart failure were evaluated against a reference standard diagnosis, as determined by 2 independent cardiologists blinded to acoustic cardiography. Patients were followed through 90 days to determine the relationship of the S3 to adverse events. Nine hundred ninety-five patients with acoustic cardiography results were enrolled from March to October 2006 at 7 US and 2 international sites. Median age was 63 years, 55% were men, and 44% were white. The reference diagnosis was acute decompensated heart failure in 41.5%. After initial history and physical examination, the treating physician's initial sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for acute decompensated heart failure as a possible diagnosis were 89.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85.5% to 91.8%), 58.2% (95% CI 54.0% to 62.2%), and 71.0% (95% CI 68.4% to 73.8%), respectively. Acoustic cardiography had an accuracy of 68% (95% CI 65.4% to 71.3%), sensitivity of 40.2% (95% CI 35.5% to 45.1%), and specificity of 88.5% (95% CI 85.5% to 90.9%). Emergency physician confidence and diagnostic accuracy were influenced by adding information about the presence or absence of S3. In a multivariable model, the S3 added no independent prognostic information for 30-day (odds ratio 1.20; 95% CI 0.67 to 2.14) or 90-day events (odds ratio 1.22; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.90). In patients presenting with acute dyspnea, the acoustic cardiography S3 was specific for acute decompensated heart failure and affected physician confidence but did not improve diagnostic accuracy for acute decompensated heart failure, largely because of its low sensitivity. Further, the acoustic cardiography S3 provided no significant independent prognostic information.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- B-Type natriuretic peptide and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide are depressed in obesity despite higher left ventricular end diastolic pressuresAmerican Heart Journal, 2006
- How obesity affects the cut-points for B-type natriuretic peptide in the diagnosis of acute heart failure: Results from the Breathing Not Properly Multinational StudyAmerican Heart Journal, 2006
- Prevalence of Negative Chest Radiography Results in the Emergency Department Patient With Decompensated Heart FailureAnnals of Emergency Medicine, 2006
- Effect of body mass index on natriuretic peptide levels in patients with acute congestive heart failure: A ProBNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department (PRIDE) substudyAmerican Heart Journal, 2005
- B-type Natriuretic Peptide for Diagnosis of Heart Failure in Emergency Department Patients: A Critical AppraisalAcademic Emergency Medicine, 2004
- B-type natriuretic peptide and renal function in the diagnosis of heart failure: An analysis from the breathing not properly multinational studyAmerican Journal of Kidney Diseases, 2003
- Uncovering Heart Failure in Patients with a History of Pulmonary Disease: Rationale for the Early Use of B-type Natriuretic Peptide in the Emergency DepartmentAcademic Emergency Medicine, 2003
- B-Type Natriuretic Peptide and Clinical Judgment in Emergency Diagnosis of Heart FailureCirculation, 2002
- Prognostic Importance of Elevated Jugular Venous Pressure and a Third Heart Sound in Patients with Heart FailureNew England Journal of Medicine, 2001
- Radiographic pulmonary congestion in end-stage congestive heart failureThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1989